Written By Krishna on Monday, December 12, 2011 | 9:56 AM

The Posco SEZ, to be set up in Jagatsinghpur, had received in-principle approval from the BoA but it expired in October. Subsequently, the steel giant's India subsidiary had sought more time from the government for its SEZ, that has to come up on 1,620.49 hectares in Orissa.

The government has deferred a decision on South Korean steel major Posco's request for allowing more time to set up multi-product SEZ in Orissa till the Board of Approval's next meeting.

The inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA), chaired by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, deferred the issue due to the absence of a "reasoned submission" of the Orissa government.

As per the rules, state government's nod is required for a final clearance by BoA to set up an SEZ.

"...a faxed request was received from the Government of Orissa, stating that it would submit its views later. No reasoned submission has been provided...the matter is deferred to the next meeting, before which the state government may make a reasoned submission," the minutes of the BoA meeting, held on November 28, said.

The Posco SEZ, to be set up in Jagatsinghpur, had received in-principle approval from the BoA but it expired in October. Subsequently, the steel giant's India subsidiary had sought more time from the government for its SEZ, that has to come up on 1,620.49 hectares in Orissa.

The BoA also gave extra time to 11 SEZ developers, including those of Parsvnath SEZ, to execute their projects.

Four tax free zones including Dr Reddy's Laboratories and City Gold Realties Private Ltd were de-notified.

While some asked for de-notification of their SEZs due to change in their business plans, others have cited reasons such as imposition of Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT).

The BoA also gave its approval to set up four zones, including Free Trade and Warehousing Zone to be set up by Mundra Port and SEZ Ltd in Gujarat, over an area of 168.41 hectares.